Biological diversity

Friday evening in Nagoya, Japan, a new treaty on biological diversity was signed by almost 200 nations. Finally some positive signals in international environmental work can be seen, even though the treaty is a compromise. The overall purpose is to reduce the loss of biodiversity over the coming 10 years.

The treaty contains an agreement on how to compensate nations for use of domestic "genetic resources", for example if a new pharmaceutical is developed from a medicinal plant. This is significant since many of these potential medinical plants exist in developing countries, whereas the companies using them are mainly from industrialised countries. 

Furthermore, it contains an agreement about protection of 17% of the land area and 10% of the ocean area on a national level. This was reduced from the proposed 20% and 15%.

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CSR and the firm

An important issue in CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is what a company should do and what is the purpose of it. Some, like the widely recognised economist Milton Friedman, would argue that CSR is not what a company should do; a company should instead focus on maximising returns for the shareholders, and abide the law and general ethical principles in doing so. Thus instead leaving the work of forming standards to ensure a responsible behaviour to the government, and if this is done well there would be no room or need for CSR in the companies, rather what is best for the shareholders would be best for the society. This is well in line with classical economics going back to Adam Smith and the invisible hand regulating the market.

However, this view is disputed. The assumption made here is that an efficient market, including an efficient state apparatus, will make sure that business is conducted in a responsible way. Obviously, this is not the case in reality, thus there is an important role for CSR work to play in filling the void between the real market and the ideal market. In this context it seems CSR work has an important role to fill and it should be something important for companies in catering to the interests of the stakeholders in regards to the interaction with the market, society and externalities. Actual it could be assumed that CSR has developed from a liberal market view, where not enough regulations are present to ensure commitment to responsible business principles. In this context it is not surprising to see an increase in CSR activities of companies, some argues that companies have taken over some of the responsibilities of regulating the market, which was earlier an activity exclusively conducted by the state. Not only are many companies conducting CSR activities in their own organisation, but also in their extended value chain containing several tiers of suppliers.

[The Firm] [CSR] [Corporate Social Responsibility] Share on Facebook

Mining

Today the first of the 33 trapped miners in Chile are finally reaching the surface again. For the first time since August 5 they will breathe surface air, they will however still not see the light just yet. This is due to the damage it would cause their eyes after months in darkness. So it seems the story will get a happy ending after all.

Mining accidents are quite common, especially in China. Last year 2,631 miners were killed in accidents and the worst year 2002 there were 6,995 deaths in Chinese mines. Safety is appaling, corporate social repsonsibility is unheard of and the environment is damaged on a large scale. All this is regarded as secondary as coal, and lots of it, is needed to fuel the growing economy. Lately regulations have been launched to help safety in mines, for example management have been forced to regularly spend time and do inspections underground. Hopefully these regulations can help improve the situation of Chinese miners, but many seem to have little hope this will lead to more than marginal improvements.

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Another red list

Our use of the environment is not only putting animals in harms way; it has now been estimated that a fifth of the world's plant species are endangered. The numbers are terrible, 380,000 plant species are threatened. There is a small part of this that is due to natural reasons, but the vast majority is due to the human factor. As one of the biotopes with the largest biodiversity, the rainforest is also the biotope with the most threatened plant species. One reason for this is the large demand for palm oil. The palm oil plantations are a large threat to the rainforest and its inhabitants. Plants are the foundation of the ecosystem, and keeping the biodiversity is thus essential.

Next month the UN conference on biodiversity in Nagoya (Japan) will adress this issue. A international strategy will be needed, before it is too late.

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The new face of bin Ladin

The world never ceases to surprise you...

Usama bin Ladin has been quite for a while now, however now he has apaprently made a statement again. What is surprising is the subject, it is not about infidels, bombs or terror. His latest statement talks about concern for the environment and climate change in general, and about the recent floods in Pakistan. I was not expecting the environment to be his biggest concern, but you never know there may live a little tree hugger inside him.

On another note intelligence services claim to have disrupted Al-Qaida terror plans against several European cities. Whether this is really the case, or if it is mostly a public relations thing is still unclear.

[Climate Change] [Environment] [Pakistan] [Usama bin Ladin] Share on Facebook

A short thought on electric cars

The electric car is often brought forward as the saviour of the very oil-intensive transport sector. What is seldom mentioned when discussing its benefits is the source of energy. Sure combustion of oil-based fuels emits huge amount of carbon dioxide and other harmful pollutants. But as long as the energy source for an electric car is not sustainable, the benefits are small. Thus, the key here is to make our overall energy system sustainable. To remove natural gas, carbon and oil in electricity generation and instead move towards more sustainable sources, such as solar power, hydro power, wind power and some extent also nuclear power (although its sustainability may be controversial).

That is one of our major challenges for the near future...

[Electric Car] [Energy] [Oil] Share on Facebook

Distributed energy systems

In rural areas in developing countries there is today often a lack electricity. This could be solved in many ways and in the long run perhaps it is likely that there will be a mix of distributed and local energy systems. However, we are not there yet and electric grids are either severly lacking in coverage and quality or non-existent. Thus the other solution is to use small-scale distributed solutions, as many developing countries are in tropical areas the potential for photovoltaic solutions should be great.

Today photovoltaic cells suffer from two main problems, low efficiency and high costs. In the aforementioned context high costs is the main problem. Large research efforts are done in these areas and more cost efficient large-scale manufacturing of photovoltaic cells should be here soon. Bringing the generation of electricity closer to the end-user would bring large advantages from a technical point of view, but also when considering standard of living. Electricity in rural areas would bring better opportunities for schools and medical care. But also would help with another huge problems in these areas, clean water. The (cheap) electricity could be use for pumps and for cleaning water.


[Energy] [Photovoltaic] [Developing Countries] [Sustainability] [Water]Share on Facebook

Finite resources

Humanity is facing many challenges the coming century. To be the most definitive is not the threat of climate change our international terrorism. Something we cannot get around is how we use natural resources. If we keep consuming resources at a faster pace than they can be regenerated we are far out on very thin ice. Some obvious examples are oil and coal, but those could possibly be replaced by greener energy sources in the not too distant future. Furthermore, many metals we are using in large quantities are scarce. A sure sign of this is that the fast growing chinese economy is buying lots of rare metals and also is driving a lot of the global concrete and steel market. Firstly, we need to start reusing and recycling a lot more. What is
even scary is the large population in developing countries seeking a Western standard of life. Who are we to deny them that after raping the planet for a long time...

I guess that when one resources becoems to scarce or to expensive we will eventually move on to an alternative resource. But at some point there are no alternatives. We need to recycle and reuse. Further we need to use resources efficiently and minimise waste. Perhaps the a sustainable energy system is the key here, since we are really running out of oil and coal, not to mention the pollutions caused by those two.

Bottom line is, we cannot have a linear system for using finite natural resources. At some point we run out...

[Resources] [Energy] [Waste] [Environment] Share on Facebook

Greenhouse

So far the global warming by an estimated 0,7 degrees Celsius has given effects to plant life on a global level. According to estimates the vegetation has increased with 6% between 1982 and 1999. This is expected as carbondioxide is one essential part of the photosyntesis process that is feeding plant growth.

As an effect it is expected that already dry areas will become drier in many cases, as well as the opposite many rainy countries will get wetter. And some countries will be even wetter due to rise in sea levels. Furthermore, the effects will have the largest negative impact tin development countries and the most positive effects in industrialised countries. Obviously third world countries will require help from richer and more developed countries. Not only in the form of money, but also in the form of a commitment to battling the cause of the problem, the emissions causing climate change.

[Climate Change] [Environment] [Sustainability] [Development] [Future]

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Emission rights

The main objective with emission rights is obviously to reduce green house gas emissions. This is as we all now an important objective. Also the emissions right are traded as a financial instrument. Except for the fact that skillful traders can make money on this; it has another interesting implication.

The emissions right and their costs gives companies and states incentives to make reductions of emissions where they are most cost efficient, in simpler words the reduction are carried out where they are the cheapest. For example if you can invest in X tons of carbondioxide reduction in China, you will not buy an emission right that costs more.

Currently European companies are making significatn proporttions of their emission reductions in development countries. These kind of investment gives them a type of emission right that is an alternative to regular emission rights.

Currently, a new period of emission right is beginning. In the previous period there was an abundance of emissions rights, meaning the value of them and the incentives for decreasal of emissions was low. For this period the number of emission rights have decreased, forcing a decreasel of emission from companies in countries bound by the Kyoto agreement. However, to make this a powerful tool there are three major players that need to sign the agreement USA, China and India. When these three have joined, the real decrease will come. For USA it looks hopeful if a democrat regime is elected. China and India will probably not sign the agreement anytime soon, my opinion is that they will focus on growth and let the environment come second (or not at all).

[Emissions] [Environment] [Market Economy] [Kyoto Agreement]


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Flying on rails

The general opinion is today agreeing on the fact that flying is the most environmental harmful way of travelling. For intercontinental travels flying may still be necessary in the future. For these travels a need for new energy systems and better fuel is of utmost importance.

However, for shorter travels, for example within Western Europe, train could be just as quick. What is needed is development of the train system. Higher capacity is needed and more high speed trains. If this is established the trains should be able to be a serious competitor to flying. And much more environmentally friendly, provided that the energy is produced in a good way.

A problem for this is however the different standards in different countries. For example when it comes to width of the rails it differs between countries in Europe, forcing time consuming transfers. But trains definitely has a future in a more environmentally concerned society, but action is needed for the trains to fulfill its potential.

[Trains] [Flying] [Future] [Environment] [Travel]

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Ethanol

Ethanol is sometimes praised as the great fuel of the future, a biofuel which is significantly decreasing carbon dioxide emission. In most cases this is just not true and ethanol has some other setbacks.

The European Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development warns that “the current push to expand the use of biofuels is creating unsustainable tensions that will disrupt markets without generating significant environmental benefits. The ethanol is generally produced from sugarcanes, wheat or corn. the ethanol produced contains less energy than an equal amount of gasolin. The general problem is that to produce the raw material for ethanol often large areas of forest are burned down creating large emissions. In the end the ethanol is often even giving more emissions than gasolin. Furthermore, cultivation for ethanol production is taking up large areas that would be needed to produce food. For example, filling up one SUV fuel tank one time with ethanol uses enough corn to feed one person for a year.

Another solution is distilling ethanol from cellulose, which will not compete with food production. However, this is depleting the soil where it is grown. Also the production of ethanol requires energy, which often comes from natural gas or oil.

Biofuels is the future, but there needs to be significant development before they can make any real changes. The use of ethanol is more important as a indication of willingness to change, than as a solution for reducing emissions.

[Environment] [Ethanol] [Biofuel] [Emissions]

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Misdirected punishment

As the climate changes due to global warming gradually comes; the wet areas will be wetter and dry areas will be drier. Many of the developing countries are located in areas that will become very dry or be flooded. This is problematic in several ways, except for the obvious impact on the everyday life of millions of people.

Morally, the global warming is almost exclusively caused by greenhouse gas emissions from the industrialized countries, the Western World. However, the most severe effects will affect the developing countries. In other words they will take the hit for our actions. Furthermore, can the Western World deny the developing countries to pollute as we have done. The people in developing countries are seeking a standard of living as we already have; for this to take place industrialization is needed and it will not come clean. China and India are there now. china has clearly indicated that it will not show any environmental concern while trying to catch up with the West.

Firstly, the Western world need to act as champions of change. Changes and adaptation needs to be done, to minimize climate change. This is important to show the rest of the world that there is a will, and also a way.

[Environment] [Climate Change] [China] [Moral] [Development]

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The oil will not run out anytime soon

Some claim that the oil will run out soon. Actually it has been claimed for almost fifty years that the oil will run out within 25 years. There are two reasons for this, more oil is found and technology changes make more of the oil available for economically beneficial extraction.

What will happen is however that oil prices will rise as extraction of oil gets more expensive. There is much more oil in the earth than that which is extracted today, for example there is oil in minerals in the ground and deeper in the sea.

So to all with environmental concerns, thinking that the lack of oil will force environmentally friendly technologies to be used; this is far away. Maybe the increasing prices will hurry up the search for environmentally friendly fuels, but it will not be the most important force. Action to minimize global warming needs to be taken much sooner, actually it should have been done yesterday.

[Oil] [Gas prices] [Environment] [Climate Change]

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Sustainable Population

With today's usage of resources the population is too large to be sustained by our planet. I have seen several numbers for this, but in general a consensus idea seem to be that in about ten years time we will need 3 planets to support us.

With huge populations in China and India seeking the same standard as in the West, sustainability is far away. I am not arguing, that they should not seek the same standard. This striving is good, it is what drives growth and innovation. However, it needs to be done with the environment in mind and the use of resources need to be more efficient.

[Population] [Environment] [Sustainability]

Science and Technology is the answer

Firstly, there is a need to acknowledge that there is a such a phenomenon as climate change caused by human activities. This is not arguing the fact that there are natural climate changes as well, and that such has occured throughout the history of our planet. However, what is happening today is not solely caused by natural factors.

Secondly, this is a problem that needs to be solved or at least to be slowed down. In order to solve this, the emission of greenhouse gases needs to be decreased. But there are some troubles with this on an international level. Rapidly growing economies, such as China and India, are also rapidly increasing their effects on the environment. Justifying it by pointing out the fact that, the Western world has has much higher emission rates for a long time.

Obviously this situation is not sustainable. The growth of these new economies cannot be halted, but there need to be a shift in focus. For example, today 16 out of the 20 most polluted cities in the world are in China (according to the World Watch Institute).

This environmental challenge will not be solved by a stop in consumption or lower standards of living. It needs to be done in a way where our standard of living can be kept, but rather focusing on scientific and technological change. There are a lot of technology already available to battle this, but there need to be a willingness to invest in and commit to technology changes.
Furthermore, the industrialized countries with an ability to change need to take the lead in this process.

[Climate Change] [Environment] [Technology]